Amateur
RevolutionWhat's interesting is not the fact
that this is the case - though it is of course startling to
find that "committed, networked amateurs working to
professional standards (called) Pro-Am workers, their
networks and movements, will help reshape society in the
next two decades." No, the really interesting question is
why this is the case. How can the amateurs outdo the
professionals? "Some professionals will find that
unsettling; they will seek to defend their monopolies. The
more enlightened will understand that the landscape is
changing. Knowledge is widely distributed, not controlled
in a few ivory towers. The most powerful organizations will
enable professionals and amateurs to combine distributed
know-how to solve complex problems." Via Teaching
and Developing Online. By Charles Leadbeater, Fast
Company, October, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]

Information
HuntersInteresting (and probably accurate)
premise: "The behaviour of human beings when searching for
information intensively resembles that of the
hunter-gatherers of our past and that of the foraging of
animals." This site develops a strategy, information
visualization, to build on this premise. Some useful
references worth following up at the bottom of the page,
including The
WebBook and the Web Forager and Surf
Like a Bushman. Via elearningpost. By Juan C.
Dürsteler, Inf@Vis!, October, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]

25%
of Internet Sites Violate Copyrights of News
ArticlesI have serious doubts about the
accuracy of this item, but let's suppose, for a moment,
that it's true, that the survey was fairly and accurately
conducted and that the results are reflective of the
population as a whole. It says, then, that a quarter of all
websites violate copyright. If this is true, then what we
have here is far more than a mere policing problem. 25
percent of the internet population, plus or minus a hundred
million or so, is a quarter billion people. And you can't
simply say, based on the needs of a few content providers,
that what a quarter billion people are doing is illegal.
Even if it is. Because in such a situation, the law becomes
effectively void, failing in any real sense to represent
the general will, and reflective more of money, influence,
lobbying and power. By Chung Ah-young, Korea Times, October
4, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]

Can't Find
on GoogleCan't find what you're looking for
on Google? Post it on Can't Find on Google and maybe
someone can help you. Via E-Media Tidbits. (Update: I
posted a query, a genuine failed Google search, at about 7,
and got a correct response by email by 7:19.) By Various
Authors, October, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]

Incorporated
SubversionJames Farmer has moved his
Incorporated Subversion blog to a new location, giving it
(finally) its own website. And he launches the new site
with a flair, beginning with a longish
article titled Communication dynamics: Discussion
boards, weblogs and the development of communities of
inquiry in online learning environments. The paper looks at
the use of online learning envrionments (OLEs) in
Australia, arguing that the use of blogs should be
encouraged to supplement the communications capacities of
discussion boards, encourage social presence, and
incorporate subvrsion. Good paper, very much on the same
wavelength as my own thinking, especially near the
conclusion. "Rather than design with constraint in mind,
design with freedom and flexibility in mind … this
emphasises the active and purposeful role of learners in
configuring learning environments to resonate with their
own needs, echoing the notions of learning with technology
through 'mindful engagement' (Squires 1999 p. 1)." By
James Farmer, Incorporated Subversion, October 5, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]

Nose-steered
Mouse Could Save Aching ArmsI saw the prototypes
at the National Research Council offices in Ottawa a couple
of years ago, but this invention by NRC staff is finally
getting some public play. The nouse is a system that uses a
video camera to locate your nose and use it as a mouse
pointer. Want to switch it on? Blink twice. By Celeste
Biever, New Scientist, September 16, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]